War of the Century
The War of the Century was a large scale conflict starting just before the turn of the ERA 09th century. Frequently described as the first "Total War", the offensive involved every country on the home continent except the neutral Barbine Republic, and resulted in the mobilisation of entire populations. These factors made the war one of the largest and costliest conflicts in history, with military and civilian casualties in the tens of millions. Unprecedented at the time, the conflict would ultimately pale in comparison to the significantly bloodier Global Conflict later in the century. Hostilities first flared up in the ERA 08-90s in a period known as the "New Century Unrest", where several regions under the control of the major superpowers, the Great Empire and the United Republic, made bids for independence. This resulted in new alliances being formed, and large concentrations of troops being committed to fighting to, depending on the situation, suppressing or defending the uprisings. At the end of the conflict, major changes in territory had resulted, most notably the emergence as Heartland as the third continental superpower. Despite this, the international situation stabilized back into a state of stalemate after many years of battle. The war is characterised by the development and proliferation of many pioneering technologies such as aircraft, motor vehicles, armoured fighting vehicles, chemical weapons and automatic infantry weapons, as well as advanced tactics such as combined arms and indirect artillery fire. However, the high casualty rate of the conflict meant many of these fledgling techniques were neglected in the decades of stalemate after the war. Background By the beginning of the ERA 08th century, the United Republic controlled most of the continent, opposed only by the prosperous Great Empire in the west, and a number of independent countries such as Causeway and Zicia that, although theoretically neutral, were perceived to fall within the Imperial sphere of influence. Although possessing what was widely regarded as the most powerful military in the world, a combination of the turmoil brought on by the industrial revolution and the population boom that preceded it resulted in destabilisation within the eastern superpower. The increased demand of food and raw materials to sustain an expanding populace, in addition to widespread unemployment, had put a great strain on the economy of the United Republic. The burden fell most heavily on the periphery annexed territories who, far from the industrial centres of the superpower, were subject to starvation and mass relocation. This, in turn with the loosening military grasp of the superpower on these frontier regions due to the Republic's bloated size and the developing crisis, gave way to widespread demonstrations within several occupied areas. In ERA 08-98, after months of civil unrest, the mountainous central territory of Varia declared its intentions to become independent, alongside a movement to restore the traditional monarchy outlawed during the UF takeover. A year later, in the far east, tribal tension in the sizeable puppet state of the Robbiyan Republic resulted in the country splitting in two, with the belligerent southern half later securing the backing of the Great Empire. The same year, the heavily populated region of Heartland, previously a powerful independent nation that was conquered by the United Republic hundreds of years ago, was the next in line to revolt. Inspired by the demonstrations in Varia and Robb, the aspirational leaders of the revolution embarked on a large-scale popular uprising to reclaim their country's independence, and possibly uniting with the other dissenting nations as a single power. It was this revelation that finally woke the United Republic up to the scale of the crisis unfolding before them. Varia and Robb were considered too weak to rebel against the might of the UF and of limited overall strategic value, respectively, but Heartland was a different case entirely. The resource rich and heavily industrialised nation was considered vital to supporting the interior population of the Republic, and it was these resources combined with the sheer number of Heartlandian people that made a revolution a dire threat. In mid ERA 08-99 the United Republic began to mobilize its occupation forces to extinguish the revolts, resulting in a number of harsh crackdowns. In the rural areas, civilians were denied food and supplies after roads were sealed off by troops, while in the cities, any demonstrations were met with severe, usually lethal, retaliation. Instead of quelling the revolt, the brutality of the United Republic response incited a massive armed uprising across the nation, leaving the outnumbered occupation forces in danger of being driven out of the country. Seeking to make an example of Heartland, the United Republic mobilized a reaction force of several million men to enact a plan of supreme vengeance. Known as "Operation Defiance", the plan called for the destruction of all infrastructure within Heartland - food and goods production facilities, transport systems, and virtually all major urban centres were ordered bombed, burned or otherwise wiped out, reducing the country to one reminiscent of medieval times. With that, a war of unparalleled brutality began in earnest. The ever increasing catastrophe that was unfolding inside the United Republic had not gone unnoticed by the Great Empire, viewing this as an opportunity to finally crush its greatest rival, had began to ready its forces for an offensive. To further destabilize the Republic and keep its troops occupied, the Great Empire had agreed to begin supplying the Heartlandian revolutionaries with arms via the nation's rebel-held southern ports - those bordering the neutral nation of Causeway. The Empire's long term intention was to annex the region for itself, believing an eventual Heartlandian victory could only be achieved with the assistance of Imperial troops. Otherwise, the opposing factions in Heartland would bleed themselves white fighting each other, leaving the region vulnerable to an attack by the Great Empire. Meanwhile, the nation contributed similar materiel support to Varia and Southern Robb, who by October ERA 08-99 were preparing their own armed uprisings. Seeking to pre-empt violence in these regions, the United Forces were mobilized to Varia and the Robbiyan Republic that same month. A massive build-up of troops along the Republics' western border was blocked by the independent nation of Causeway, who refused entry to UF troops. Intending to seize the so-called "Causeway Corridor" - the southern frontier's land route to Varia and the Great Empire - in order to limit the movement of supplies and troops being sent to aid Heartland and the Varian resistance, the United Republic revoked its treaty of non-aggression and subsequently invaded Causeway on the 21st of December ERA 08-99. Within the week, the ready-to-mobilize Imperial forces had been landed in Causeway to assist in its defence. On New-year's day ERA 09-00, the War of the Century was in full swing. Course of War Heartland In Heartland, from July ERA 08-99 to December 09-06, the people of Heartland fought against the United Republics' Territorial and Expeditionary Armies, seeking to enact the punitive "Defiance" plan against the rebelling nation, as well as counter-revolutionary forces from Heartland. Initially fighting was concentrated in the urban areas, where the mostly untrained but numerous army of volunteers, armed with a mixture of equipment stolen from the UF and supplied by the Great Empire, were embroiled against the tactically superior Republic Forces in siege warfare. Later on in the war, as the central industrial areas came under rebel control, the front stabilized in the rural areas of the tundral plains of the north and the jungles of the south, and formal training programs for the newly formed Heartland Ground Forces were introduced. Domestic equipment was also manufactured in increasingly larger numbers. As the conflict raged out of control elsewhere on the continent, the United Republics' army in Heartland was slowly reduced in an attritional war, and territory was gradually ceded to the revolutionaries, who despite equally horrendous losses, were gathering moral strength as they reclaimed their homeland. By October ERA 09-02, the UF had been slowly faltering in its attempts to block the revolution's expansion. A counter-attack by the UF in December ERA 09-02 gained no ground, and was called off within a month. Around the same time, the Great Empire, after frustrating all efforts to secure control in Heartland through political means, began moving its armies into Heartland from the west, seeking to exploit the situation and gain ground while Heartland's main forces were locked in battle against the UF's counter-attack. However, the quick cancellation of the eastern border offensive allowed Heartland to transfer its armies west and put up stiff resistance against the Imperial betrayal. Outnumbered, the overextended spearhead of the Imperial attack was lured into the cities of the country's midlands and convincingly destroyed, forcing an end to the campaign in February ERA 09-03. Between March ERA 09-03 and November 09-05, the forces behind the Independent Heartlandian State concentrated on removing domestic opposition within its newly created borders. Large scale military actions resulted in the destruction of the Imperial-backed Free Southern Enclave, with the southern ports of the country falling under New Heartland's control. January ERA 09-06 saw Heartland renew the offensive against the United Forces, the overextended lines of which were pushed back hundreds of miles of the course of a year of fighting. The Republics' troops were expelled across Heartland's historic border in December ERA 09-06, prompting a halt in the advance as Heartland consolidated along the new eastern frontier. This would be the final major military operation of the war against the United Forces, although border skirmishes would be commonplace throughout the sector for decades to come. The same would be observed on the western front, where the Imperials continually prodded for weaknesses in the line in an effort to claim any territory it could from Heartland. The New Last Front campaign, fought in the winter of ERA 09-10/11, was an example of this continued aggression, and saw the Imperial army decisively swept from the region. At the end of the conflict, Heartland had established itself as an independent nation, and thanks to its large population, industrial capacity and domestic strategic resources, could support a massive and powerful army. In the years between the century's great wars, Heartland worked to rebuild the damage done to the country's interior as a result of the Defiance plan, while the regime tightened its grip on the peoples and materials of its newly annexed territories. An expanding military fed Heartland's expanding borders, and further cemented the rebirthed nation as the world's third superpower. Causeway The Battle for Causeway began in December ERA 08-99 when UF forces invaded the neutral country to pre-empt the Imperial relief effort in Varia and Heartland. The Causewegian protectorate of Wollus to the north-west was simultaneously overran and occupied. Although outnumbered and surrounded, the Causewegian army managed to hold the line until Great Imperial forces arrived in the country to support them. Warfare in Causeway during the War of the Century was largely static, with small amounts of ground being gained and lost over the many years of battle. By ERA 09-06, the Causeway front was the main line of contest left in the conflict, with increasingly large numbers of opposing troops being sent to the horrific battle of attrition that characterised the war in the region. By this time, however, advances in technology and tactics had allowed for an increasingly more mobile form of warfare, with losses and gains in territory becoming more significant as the battle progressed. By the summer of ERA 09-07 the front line had become increasingly dynamic, with the combined Imperial and Causewegian armies steadily beginning to outmanoeuvre and outpace the United Republic's forces, who were themselves steadily expanding after manpower was transferred from closed fronts in Heartland and Varia. After throwing everything at the Imperial-Causewegian line during the United Offensive of ERA 09-08, they were lef t too weak to decisively oppose a coalition counterattack which finally drove them out of the country in early ERA 09-09, and bringing an end to the War of the Century. Causeway remained as an independent nation, whilst managing to gain some land from Norta along its north-east and south-east border. However, it suffered greatly in turms of casualties and damage to infrastructure, with many parts of the country being still in ruins when it was invaded again in the Total War forty years later. Varia Conventional armed conflict in Varia began in March ERA 09-00, after a contingent of UF troops formed up with the Varian collaborative Loyalist army and began the march south. At this time, the opposition forces of the Varian Royalists had a small core of professional soldiers using captured Repulic equipment that was bolstered by a larger militia force using Imperial and domestically produced arms. The equipment of the militia was of low quality, and this in addition to a lack of training, meant the Varian revolutionary forces were ill-suited to deal with the flood of UF reinforcements pushing in from the north. Unlike in Heartland, the Varians did not possess an advantage in numbers, and lost much of their territory during the first stage of the offensive. Their lines stabilised in the winter of that year as the UF reached the more mountainous terrain of the country's centre. The Varians quickly adapted to the new environment, putting up a staunch defence concentrated around mountain holdouts. Despite this, the Varian Royalists were pushed back into an increasingly shrinking pocket along the country's southern-coast. Devoid of reinforcements from the Great Empire, it was only with the closing of the Causeway Corridor by allied forces in the autumn of ERA 09-05 that relieved pressure of the Varia front line. Over the next two years, the UF were slowly pushed back north as the battle for Causeway reached its climax. Badly mauled in the fighting, Varia ultimately lacked the military strength to stand on its own after the war, and was instead forced to join the Great Empire, giving up its territory to the western superpower. The Varian royal family was not permitted to return to the throne, and choose exile over serving an Imperial-controlled puppet state. Anti-Imperial sentinent would therefore persist in the country for decades to come, with older grudges resurfacing in the UF invasion of Varia in the later Global Conflict. Robbiyan Republic At the beginning of the war, conflict in the Robbiyan region was between the UF-backed New Robbiyan State in the north of the country and the Imperial-aligned Southern Independent State to the south, which had appeared after civil war broke out in ERA 08-99. Relatively low intensity civil war gave way to all-out international war when, in April ERA 09-03, the newly formed Imperial Desert Force was deployed to the region in order to lure Republic forces away from the western continent, and possibly secure a path through the desert to strike the rear areas of the Federation homeland. The UF responded by significantly increasing materiel and leadership support to the New State Army, but held off from committing troops, prompting further and more risky Imperial operations in the the theatre. Warfare in the desert was more mobile than elsewhere on the continent, and by the end of ERA 09-05 the Imperials had made significant gains, consolidating and strengthening the Southern Independent State. However, the New State Army, which was severely underrated by the enemy due to its size and early tactics, adapted to the invader's strategy and inflicted serious losses on the Imperials, particularly during their landing on the S'ofi peninsula in ERA 09-04. Meanwhile, the alliance and mutual support between the Empire and the SIS eventually soured in the midst of conflicting war aims and promises broken in the name of self-interest, forcing an Imperial withdrawal in late ERA 09-06. The New State became the majority ruling party in the aftermath of the Imperial defeat. However, the Imperials had built up the Southern Independent State into a small but tenacious nation, which was for the moment contained, but would consistenly clash with its former parent state. Behind the seens, the SIS was being groomed politically as an Imperial colony, with troops left behind to enforce the rule of pro-Imperial leadership. In recognition of its loyalty during the War of the Century, the United Republic granted the northern Robbiyan State independence in ERA 09-10, relinquishing all support as the region loomed on the verge of all-out civil war. What was once a unified Robbiya under the UF continues to be a increasingly fragmented and volatile area in modern day. Zicia Conflict in Zicia was limited during the War of the Century, with the Zician armed forces, allied with the Great Empire, mainly participating in naval engagements against UF incursions into the Great Channel. Beginning in early ERA 09-00, a UF ground offensive into Zician territory was launched, but made little progress. During this time, a contingent of Zician troops fought against the UF in as an expeditionary corps in Causeway. Despite the comparitively low intensity of the conflict in Zicia, the seven-year war resulted in a high manpower and monetary cost for the small, independent nation. Although the country recieved large amounts of UF equipment as reparations after a truce in ERA 09-07, allowing its armies to rebuild with modern equipment, many came away from the conflict disillusioned by the Zician-Imperial pact. The UF weapons provided the catalyst for a period of armed feuding between the country's political factions. The Empire itself was greatly angered by Zicia's withdrawal from the war, and officially distanced itself, reneging on promises of additional territory in the Channel. These events contributed to an entire generation of division and unrest in the country, setting the stage for the future crises to face the peninsula during the Global Conflict and its aftermath. Belligerents Below is a list of belligerents of the War of the Century. Nations of the Eastern Continental Pact lead by the United Republic opposed the Imperial Alliance during the conflict, with Heartland establishing itself as an independent superpower. Eastern Continental Pact (United Federal Republics) *United Republics **Norta **Greenland **Drebland **14 other Allied States *Robbiyan Republic (split into New Robbiyan State and Southern Independent State in ERA 08-99) **New Robbiyan State (Allied from ERA 08-99) *Varia (Revolted in ERA 09-00) **Varian Loyalist Collaborators (Allied from ERA 09-00) Imperial Alliance (Great Empire) *Great Empire **Aris **Aelborme **Azbarelle **2 other Lesser Dominions *Varia (Annexed by Great Empire in ERA 09-08) **Varian Royalist Insurrection (Revolted from United Republic in ERA 09-00) *Causeway (Allied from ERA 08-99) **Free State of Wollus (Allied from ERA 08-99) *Zicia (Allied from ERA 09-00 to 09-07) *Revolutionary Heartland (Allied from ERA 08-98 to 09-02) Neutral (Heartland) *Revolutionary Heartland (Revolted from United Republic in ERA 08-98) **Independent State of Heartland (Established in ERA 09-02) Timeline *'Heartlandian Revolution / Heartlandian Front' (July ERA 08-99 to February 09-03) **'United Republic Attack' (July ERA 08-98 to February 09-03) The crackdown on Heartland revolutionaries was ordered in July ERA 08-99, but UF occupation troops and local counter-revolutionary forces found themselves hopelessly outnumbered, and were driven out of the major urban centres. Four months later, hundreds of thousands of UF crossed into Heartland as part of "Defiance" - a major terror campaign meant to undermine Heartland's ability and will to resist. However, progress of the force was slow as it encountered fierce resistance wherever it went, and the focus on capturing cities proved costly in both time and men. Meanwhile in isolated areas, large numbers of Heartlandians were being formally outfitted and organised, and in strong defensive positions in the north and south-centre of the country. The UF could only make progress west, its forces being funnelled towards the Imperial border, effectively trapping them between two fronts. In September ERA 09-02, a cold snap froze the muddy roads, allowing a combined north-south offensive against the UF. Caught unprepared for the speed and ferocity of the attack, the UF began a mass retreat eastwards to escape the Heartlandian pincer. A new front line was hurriedly established, and a UF counterattack was organized for December 09-02. Once again, the UF could not overcome Heartland's strong defences, and momentum was quickly lost. UF troops retired from the battle in January of 09-03, intending to return to conquer Heartland with fresh divisions once the Causeway front had stabilized. Such a time never came during the War of the Century. **'Great Imperial Attack' (December ERA 09-02 to February 09-03) At the same time as the Republic counter-attacked in the east, Imperial troops were sent in from the west to seize the capital and destroy the fledgling Heartlandian army from the rear. The Imperial treachery initially took Heartland by surprise, and the few barely trained formations in their path were handily swept aside. However, their beeline to the capital left the flanks of the Imperials vulnerable, and losses mounted as the advance was harassed ceaselessly. Finally, as the UF attack weakened in the new year of ERA 09-03, strong divisions were transferred west to block the Imperial advance. In a similar manoeuvre performed against the Republic the previous September, the Imperial army was encircled and routed at the gates of the People's City. When the jaws of the giant pincer closed on the 5th of February, the newly formed Imperial I Mechanized Corps, the elite of the Imperial army in the east, was crushed in its entirety. The country's western territories were therefore secured by Heartland. **'Rise of Independent Heartland '(March ERA 09-03 to November ERA 09-05) After their astounding successes against both the UF and the Empire, the leaders of the revolution sought to consolidate their military and political power within the territory they controlled before launching fresh attacks to reclaim the rest of the country. For nearly two years, the two larger nations were kept at bay as the volunteer army was reorganised and reequipped for conventional warfare. Meanwhile, the splinter state of the Free Southern Enclave, set up by the Imperials as a means to covertly control the region's southern ports under the guise of a separate independent regime, was attacked in the winter of ERA 09-03 and quickly annihilated, handing control of the southern coastline to the newly established Independent Heartlandian State Ground Forces. **'Heartlandian Attack' (January ERA 09-06 to December 09-06) Heartland renewed its assault against the UF's eastern cordon in the new year of ERA 09-06. Despite two years of preparation and continual fortification of their lines, the Republic defenders were drastically overstretched, and it was not long until the line was breached. What followed was a prolonged fighting withdrawal from Heartland, with the year long campaign costing in excess of a million lives. Eventually, in December, the bloodied UF troops were pushed over Heartland's ancient border with the Republic, prompting the similarly exhausted Heartlandian troops to suspend the offensive. **'The Last New Front' (October ERA 09-10 to May 09-11) While technically separate from the War of the Century, taking place nearly two years after any major international offensive, the popular name of "The Last New Front" refers to the war weariness of the veterans of the previous war who took a significant part in the campaign. In October ERA 09-10, the newly established Heartlandian National Army attacked westwards to seize the arctic bay of Algøune from the Imperials. Smashing through the border defences due to vastly superior numbers, the Heartlandians make considerable progress as the Imperials move its highly experienced divisions of the Causewegian sector north to stop the invasion. The attackers are slowed, however, by severe weather, and the front is bombarded by constant snowstorms for the remainder of the winter. Engagements in the sub-zero climate are miserable, costly affairs, with both sides struggling to keep their troops supplied and protected from the elements. To address this, massive fortifications are constructed in the obscurity of the blizzard, and the few towns in the area are reduced to rubble to deny the enemy shelter. It is only in late January that the weather finally improves, but by this point, each side has heavily fortified their gains. Futile attacks and counter attacks continue until May. *'Causeway Front' (October ERA 08-99 to March 09-10) **'The Causeway Corridor, Fall of Wollus and the Drive for the Capital' (October ERA 08-99 to May 09-00) Causeway joined the war against the United Republic on October 21st ERA 08-99, after UF troops crossed their borders in order to attack Varia through the mountainous Causeway Corridor. Causeway aggressively opposed the move, causing the Republic spearhead to turn away from Varia and drive towards central Causeway, professed by the UF as a security action to safeguard their regional foothold. Nevertheless, the advance was perceived as a full-scale invasion, and as the Causewegian forces were pushed back towards the capital, they called upon the Great Empire for assistance. This greatly concerned the UF, who now sought to remove Causeway from the war entirely before Imperial troops could be landed. Hastily, the UF threw their full weight against the Causewegians, who were initially swept aside after a series of extremely costly counterattacks failed. A concurrent drive through the neighbouring protectorate of Wollus was launched in December 08-99, making similarly speedy progress until opposed by Imperial troops, who fought back the UF assault until the rout of the Causewegian flank made their position untenable. In February, the final defensive line was reached. Stretching from the south-west coast of Wollus to the north-west border with Varia, passing just twelve miles in front of the Causeway capital, it held no opportunities in flanking and held firm against the UF onslaught. By May ERA 09-00, the advance along the front was completely halted. With virtually no further territorial gains being won by either side, the Static War had begun. **'The Static War' (May ERA 09-00 to January 09-07) During the static phase of the war, many offensives were launched by either side which invariable gained made little progress at the expense of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and occasionally millions of casualties. The battles of ERA 09-01, 02, 03 and 04 were somewhat limited by manpower obligations to other fronts. As the war progressed, these fronts were closed or lost importance, with all eyes eventually settling on the Causewegian theatre and the frustrating stalemate there. The Empire and its allies built up their armies for a combined offensive in summer ERA 09-05, but the UF preemted them by attacking in March, in the Everswaal sector in the decidedly savage but ultimately unsuccessful Operation High Tension. The planned Imperial assault, known as the Grand Expedition, arrived at a similar, if significantly bloodier result that same year. Further attacks in ERA 09-06 and 09-07, concentrated on the Wollusite theatre took back some ground but after a time inevitably ground to a halt, and a promising Causewegian offensive in the south was unintentionally hindered by the closing of the Causeway Corridor in late ERA 09-05 - a defeat which broke much of the fighting spirit of the Causewegian army for years to come. It was once again time for the gradually expanding Republic Army, which had its manpower bolstered by forces withdrawn from Heartland and Varia, to concentrate all its effort on breaking the Causewegian front. **'The Dynamic War' (January ERA 09-08 to August 09-08) The so-called United Offensive was launched by the UF in January ERA 09-08. The massive attack breached the Imperial Coalition's lines in multiple places, swiftly reclaiming all the territory gained by them in the battles of ERA 09-06 and 07. After a month of lightning progress, the battlelines were back to within reach of the capital. However, the newly motivated and rebuilt Causewegian army held in place, forcing the UF to instead concentrate on driving the Imperials back into the sea. In April and May, the Imperials were crushed into an ever-shrinking salient around the town of Saile. This attack too faltered in early June, when the strike was again redirected, this time towards the Imperial Land Corps troops, homeland reservists only recently committed to the fighting in Causeway, holding the center between Saile and the capital. Against all odds, the green troops of the Land Corps checked the advance. Subsequent hammer blows all along the line followed in the subsequent months, each of rapidly diminishing strength and tenacity. The last breath of the offensive came in August, with the UF now having spent its entire accumulated strength in an attempted decisive victory in Causeway. With little left to oppose them, the Empire and Causeway began its counteroffensive. **'Liberation and Retirement' (August ERA 09-08 to March 09-09) The War of Liberation lasted just over six months, during which the United Republic Forces were gradually driven back into their own lands. In some areas, determined UF resistance took a heavy toll on the advancing coalition, with the Causewegians in particular appearing to be on their last legs. Despite this, it was their troops that finally pushed the UF out of the Csari region where the war began, north of the Varian mountains and the Causeway Corridor, and into the Republic's frontier regions of Töbve, which it managed to hold onto with Imperial assistance post-war. With both sides nearing complete collapse, the Imperials decided to call off further advances into Republic territory, and hostilities eventually died down at the pre-war Causewegian border in the spring of ERA 09-09. After nearly a decade of fighting and tens of millions of lives, the spoils of war consisted of a roughly 500km2 region of southern Norta that would become the Republic's justification for invading Causeway in the next war of the century, the Global Conflict, which would eclipse the last in reach and bloodshed by a significant margin. *'Zician Conflict' (April ERA 09-00 to November 09-05) Surrounded by wars raging in neighbouring Heartland and Causeway, a hastily mobilised and rearmed Zician Military awaited the impending invasion of Zicia by the United Forces. When the attack finally came in April ERA 09-00, it was in the form of a handful of understrength UF divisions, drawn directly out of combat in Heartland. While committing themselves to the battle well, they were found to be poorly prepared for jungle fighting, and were quickly contained by the comparatively weak Zician military. Immediately after hostilities were declared, the small but modern Zician navy moved to prevent UF shipping from reaching the Great Channel, isolating Republic colonial interests in the oceanic region. In the summer of 09-03, a joint task force of Imperial and Zician marines overran much of these island territories, claiming them for their own, as well as reoccupying several island strongholds that had themselves been captured by the UF earlier in the conflict. After the Heartland front settled in ERA 09-02, the UF transferred large numbers of troops to the Zician theatre - however, fighting became increasingly confused as the lack of infrastructure and uneven topography hampered UF efforts to mobilize their large troop concentrations. The Zicians, who knew the ground well, held the enemy back until events in Heartland in ERA 09-06 effectively isolated the UF position. A truce was declared in April ERA 09-07 - the Zicians were awarded a large materiel settlement and were allowed to keep their territorial gains in exchange for safe passage for UF troops out of the region, and the leasing of island ports to the Republic. *'Varian Theatre' (March ERA 09-00 to September 09-07) The United Republic launched its invasion against Varia through the Causeway Corridor, six months late due to Causeway's hostile response to UF troops entering their country as well as Imperial troops landing in the region. Despite months of warning the Varian Royalist defenders were swept relatively easily from the heights of the northern Varian mountain range. Supply problems halted the UF advance, prompting a second front to be opened against the country's east coast. The drive on the capital of Lutha was repulsed in winter ERA 09-00 by a reorganised Royalist Army, and this loss as well as the one at Lekke in March ERA 09-01 forced the UF onto the defensive. This bought the Varians time to rebuild and resupply, while the Republic units in the theatre was gradually stripped of manpower due to the demands of the Causewegian and Heartlandian fronts. In Summer ERA 09-04, the Varians successfully broke through the UF frontline, who conducted a fighting retreat back into the mountains. A costly stalemate ensued, with the Varians only achieving decisive victory in the Twenty-First Battle of Zsidorlno in November ERA 09-05 which closed the Causeway corridor. UF command by this point considered Varia a sideshow and fought no major battles in the region for the remainder of the war. However, the campaign was tremendously bloody for the defenders and effectively reduced the Varian Army to its poorly equipped and undermanned state of the early war. Rid of their strength, they submitted to Imperial rule shorty thereafter. *'Far Eastern Desert Campaign' (April ERA 09-03 to December ERA 09-06) The Great Empire, seeking to draw UF strength away from the battlegrounds of the west, had funded and supplied the breakaway nation of the Southern Independent State in its revolution against the Republic-occupied province of Robbiya. After a five year insurgency the UF-loyal Robbiya had stood relatively firm, so in April ERA 09-03 the Empire decided to land their own troops in the theatre. Their first plan was to land troops near the weakly-defended frontier of north Robbiya and advance across the desert towards the Federal Republic proper. Initial progress was good, but the long and vulnerable supply line slowed the advance considerably. Worse still, the main goal of the landing had not been achieved as Robbiya did not call upon UF assistance. In August ERA 09-04 a second landing was attempted further north in the region of S'ofi, close to the Republic's border. The invasion encountered strong and determined Robbiyan resistance, which prevented the Empire from advancing far from the beaches. A hard-fought stalemate persisted until January ERA 09-05, when the Empire withdrew from the peninsula. UF troops were still not drawn in. During this time, the Imperial contingent in the south of the country had been working to establish the SIS and ready its local forces for a renewed attack on Republic Robbiya. However, interest in the Independent State populace shifted from retaking the entire country to consolidating their upstart nation and staying on the defensive. Learning the lessons of their failed political manoeuvring concerning Heartland, the Imperial response was more nuanced; while the majority of troops withdrew from the theatre in winter ERA 09-06, a portion stayed behind under the guise of maintaining order. In reality the region would be gradually transformed into a de-facto Imperial colony between the century's two major wars. Sensing the rising political unrest in the region, and after convincing them that they could handle it alone, the UF granted full independence to the New Robbiyan State. Aftermath Category:Conflicts